In the future, if you want something — new curtains, a pair of socks, even food — you’ll either make it with the help of your 3-D printer or have it delivered to your home via an aerial drone or driverless car.

That vision comes from Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association. And it captures the essence of the massive International Consumer Electronics Show.

Opening Tuesday in Las Vegas, the show is a gadget extravaganza that aims to set the stage for consumer-focused technology not only in 2014 but for years beyond.

It’s part schlock and sophistication, junk and genius, the mundane and the mesmerizing. Vendors show off everything from boom boxes that transform into dancing robots to an all-electric Rolls-Royce that recharges wirelessly. Internet-connected washing machines fight for attention with 84-inch televisions that have screens so sharp it’s hard to look away.

“The main thing about CES is it’s kind of a hodgepodge,” said Harry McCracken, former editor of PC World and now editor-at-large for Time. “But that is valuable because you get to see a little bit of everything.”

The show brings out technology industry power brokers, with the lead keynote speech this year going to new Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich. Other keynotes include Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Cisco’s John Chambers, Sony Corp.’s Kazuo Hirai and Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler.

CES organizers expect 150,000 attendees and 3,300 exhibitors. Attendance is expected to be about the same as last year, but there are more companies on the show floor. About 35,000 attendees are from outside the U.S.

The International CES show is expected to draw 150,000 people to Las Vegas this week— UT File Photo

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The International CES show is expected to draw 150,000 people to Las Vegas this week
/ UT File Photo

Two big technology players not participating are Apple — which never has a booth at CES — and Microsoft. But Shapiro says hundreds of employees from both companies are registered for the show, and CES has a section set aside for companies that make accessories for Apple products — called the iLounge Pavilion — that has more than 300 companies participating.

“People love to predict the death of CES, or say it’s irrelevant,” McCracken said. “But it tends to defy its critics. There are a lot of big shows that become less important over the years. That certainly wasn’t true of CES last year, and I don’t see any evidence that it is true this year.”

Last year, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs gave the opening keynote speech. This year, Qualcomm executives are holding news conferences, and Jacobs is participating in a Global Innovation of Mobile panel with top executives from AT&T and Ericsson. But Qualcomm’s spotlight at the show isn’t as bright this year.

Qualcomm joins about two dozen San Diego County companies seeking to leave a mark at CES. They range from Sony Electronics, the San Diego-based arm of Sony Corp. that oversees sales of gadgets in North America, to Avacomtech, which designs indoor and outdoor machine-controlled cameras for security, remote monitoring of infants and other uses.

Here’s a look at trends expected at this year’s show:

UltraHD TVs

Televisions are always the major product at CES, and UltraHD TVs will be a hot topic again this year. UltraHD is an umbrella term for TVs with four times the pixel count of current top-tier high definition sets, delivering intense picture quality. They are also known as 4K TVs.

The consumer electronics industry believes these sets will spark an upgrade cycle with consumers as prices come down and more 4K content is available — something 3-D and Internet-connected Smart TVs failed to do.

Top TV makers have targeted the technology toward the high-end of the market, with prices rarely below $3,000. But Chinese brands such as TCL, Hisense and Seiki have introduced UltraHD sets priced around $1,000, said Paul Gagnon, an analyst with industry research firm DisplaySearch.

“The 4K market is being pulled in two directions,” he said. “You have the big brands trying to keep it a high-end technology and let it slowly mature into the mainstream because it is more profitable to do it that way. Then you have these Chinese brands that are all gunning for some rapid market adoption and volume.”

Analysts will be watching to see if Samsung, Sony and top-tier TV makers announced lower UltraHD TV prices at the show, as well as introduce it on smaller screens.

“I think you are going to see some 4K products that are at arms length, like a 20-inch tablet from Panasonic that will look as good in your lap as a 84-inch TV across the room,” said Richard Doherty, head of industry research firm Envisioneering.

UltraHD still suffers from a lack of available shows to watch in 4K resolution. Can cable and satellite providers charge more for 4K movies to justify the added bandwidth necessary to deliver such dense, super high resolution video? Analysts will be looking for announcements from these pay TV providers about their 4K plans.

Analysts, however, don’t think a lack of content today will necessarily stop consumers from buying UltraHD TVs. Blu-ray discs look great on UltraHD sets, said Gagnon, even though they aren’t 4K resolution.

“In the early days of HD, there wasn’t a lot to watch either, but people still bought them because of the expectation that content was coming,” he said.

Curved, giant screens

One new thing expected this year in TVs involves screens with a slight curve. LG announced that it will show off some OLED — or organic light emitting diode — sets with curved screens.

“There is a school of thought that because it is curved, if you’re sitting in the sweet spot, it’s a more immersive experience,” Gagnon said. “I leave that for people to judge for themselves.”

Samsung and others also are expected to demonstrate very large screen sets — in some cases 110 inches or more. Of course, these TVs are very expensive. The Associated Press reported that one 110-inch sets cost $150,000 — outside the range of most buyers.

3-D printers

The so-called makers movement has sparked a cottage industry in 3-D printers, which can actually be used to build things with different materials. Today the devices are expensive and appeal to people who — back in the day — built their own computers. But industry watchers see potential for the devices.

CES dedicated Tech Zone space to 3-D printer companies for the first time this year, and organizers had to expand the square footage three times to meet demand, Shapiro said. There are a dozen companies on a waiting list.

“I’m hoping to find examples of 3-D printing at the show that are consumerized to the point where they’re of interest to (nontechnical) folks,” said McCracken, the Time editor-at-large. “I think eventually lots of people will have 3-D printers in the home. But that is probably not something that is going to happen as a result of products at this year’s CES.”

Wrist revolution

Smart watches are an emerging technology that may or may not stick with consumers. But the technology industry is excited about wrist-worn devices that can monitor wearable sensors and enhance their readings with information pulled from the Internet cloud.

Qualcomm introduced its Toq smart watch in September and is expected to promote it at CES, particularly the Toq’s Mirasol reflective display screen that is still visible in bright light.

“Smart watches are really a category that is bleeding edge,” McCracken said. “There has been no enormously successful smart watch yet. But you have seen the Fitbit and the Jawbone wristband and other health specific products that are getting a fair amount of traction, and I expect to see other products at the show.”